Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada.
Am Nat. 2013 May;181(5):707-14. doi: 10.1086/670029. Epub 2013 Feb 25.
Kin recognition systems enable organisms to predict genetic relatedness. In so doing, they help to maximize the fitness consequences of social actions. Recognition based on phenotypic similarity-a process known as phenotype matching-is thought to depend upon information about one's own phenotype and the phenotypes of one's partners. We provide a simple model of genetic relatedness conditioned upon phenotypic information, however, that demonstrates that individuals additionally require estimates of the distributions of phenotypes and genotypes in the population. Following the results of our model, we develop an expanded concept of phenotype matching that brings relatedness judgments closer in line with relatedness as it is currently understood and provides a heuristic mechanism by which individuals can discriminate positive from negative relatives, thereby increasing opportunities for the evolution of altruism and spite. Finally, we propose ways in which organisms might acquire population estimates and identify research that supports their use in phenotype matching.
亲缘识别系统使生物能够预测遗传相关性。这样做有助于最大限度地提高社交行为的适应度后果。基于表型相似性的识别——即表型匹配过程——被认为依赖于关于自身表型和伙伴表型的信息。然而，我们提供了一个基于表型信息的遗传相关性的简单模型，该模型表明个体还需要估计群体中表型和基因型的分布。根据我们模型的结果，我们提出了一个扩展的表型匹配概念，使亲缘关系判断更符合当前的亲缘关系概念，并提供了一个启发式机制，使个体能够区分正相关和负相关的亲属，从而增加利他主义和恶意行为进化的机会。最后，我们提出了生物获取群体估计的方法，并确定了支持其在表型匹配中应用的研究。
